Archive for the ‘Menu Plan Monday’ Category

We are coming down the home stretch at last in fixing up our old house to sell. Every fix or new paint job made something else stand out that could be improved and on it went until you just scream “enough!”.

The garden really did well this year and from mid July through mid August I was harvesting a lot of veggies.

Corn! (Some of the corn in the pot was not so very nice field corn that the squirrels planted – back to wild creatures it went.)

Peppers!

Carrots! (and, yes, those are purple carrots)

I was pickling and freezing to beat the band. And then my fridge went on the fritz! Yikes! Fortunately we still have the spare fridge that was left here, but it doesn’t have a lot of freezer space. A mandatory refrigerator fix or deep freezer purchase is definitely in order for this week.

Fortunately, too, the bean beetles are taking out the beans and the squash borers have started to show up. Can you be relieved that pests have finally arrived?

This week more very vegetable meals.

Cheesy Green Beans
Tomato Cobbler
Ratatouille

I have had an excellent green pepper year compared to last year of barely any. My husband ate a lot of snacking peppers last year, so I planted quite a few. This year he just can’t keep up. So I came up with a recipe for stuffed mini peppers that he really loved.

Cut the tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds. Depending on the shape of your peppers, you may want to cut a tiny slice off the bottom so they sit flat.

I steamed the peppers until tender but not falling apart in the microwave. Soften the taco mix according to box instructions and make some crumbs with the bread. Mix this together with a little cheese (about 2 tablespoons) Stuff the peppers and top with more cheese. Back into the microwave about 2 or 3 minutes or until the peppers are hot and the cheese is melted and done.

My husband ate these for dinner, but I think they would make a nice appetizer or party snack. Instead of finishing in the microwave, they could certainly be baked in the oven for a nice little brown on the top.

I guess I don’t have an overwhelming amount planned this week since we are eating a lot of what is ready in the garden and it is too hot to cook a lot and I think I have reached a cooking lull. It seems I get all enthusiastic about cooking everything in the Fall and Winter and Spring, but Summer comes in full force and that enthusiasm goes out the window except in small fits of inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I was trying to figure out a way to get my husband to eat some of the summer squash bounty (he doesn’t share my fondness for the veggie) so I put together a squash casserole that he actually ate.

Layer everything in a casserole dish – sausage, then squash, then sauce. Top with a goodly amount of bread crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until the bread crumbs look nicely toasted. Yum!

This week are menus are very veggiecentric due to the goodies coming from the garden.

Beets!

Summer Squash!

On the menu:

Summer Squash and Tomatoes – Add Cheese – Yum!
The last of the Snow Peas with Carrots and Chik’n Strips
Beets – Okay, my husband already had this for breakfast this morning. Yes, beets and the beets greens.
Gnocchi with Alfredo Sauce
Cucumber Salad with the last of the Radishes

I’m hoping for Green Beans by the end of the week.

From the Recipe “Vault”

Cheesey Italian Green Beans

Cook 1 small package of Italian Green Beans (or use fresh, of course) in 1/2 cup water and a teaspoon of instant onion broth.

The peas have come to an end for this year, in part due to an infestation of pea aphids which I didn’t catch soon enough (the peas were so thick). I wanted to deal with the aphids before they spread to other plants. I was still very happy with the harvest and have a goodly amount put up in the freezer for future use.

The radishes are over for the Spring as well. It’s just too hot for those guys now.

On the way are beans, tomatoes, peppers, and my three sisters garden.

I’ve never planted a three sisters garden before so I am curious to see if it works out.

On the menu this week:

Tortellini and Pesto
Noodles with Peanut Sauce for my husband and Pad Thai for me with Tofu and Snow Peas
Lentils with Tomatoes and Broccoli Raab

From the Recipe “Vault” – Hello Dolly Cookies

I don’t know if this was supposed to be a tribute to the Broadway show in 1964 or the film in 1969 or just to the Louis Armstrong song. They are yummy if you like coconut.

Isn’t it always the way of gardening? First, oh wow, we have peas! Then, just look at all these peas! Then, okay, I think we have enough peas! (substitute beans, zucchini, etc.) So the peas are starting to go into the freezer and all the old peas from last year and the old beans from last year have gone to the compost pile.

A new highlight – Swiss Chard. This variety is Bright Lights and I just think it is gorgeous. At least it is in this picture before I harvested some.

A Bonus this week is an Angel Food cake topped to be served with Strawberries.

My garden is producing yummy goodies for us!

Radishes!

And Peas!

The variety of peas I planted this year is Norli – a snow pod pea. I am so far impressed with how prolific this pea is – much more so than the Oregon Supar Pod Peas I usually plant. Of course, it may have helped that I covered everything with netting this year. Last year, I actually had birds nibbling my pea plants.

And with all these peas and radishes, I just had to look and see if there were any recipes online that included both. Of course there were! Some salad combos that I just might try while I am waiting for my lettuce to get bigger.

That’s it for today. Back to painting – again.

What’s on your menu?

Sandra

P.S. If you just come to read the blog, enjoy some Frog Fun at Bry-Back Manor!

I have been a bit excited to finally get a wee harvest of radishes. No lettuce, just radishes. So what do can you do with radishes? Sesame Cucumber and Radish salad (which my husband has been thoroughly enjoying.

The recipe – more or less:

Two Cucumbers – peel the cucumbers, slice in half long wise, scoop out the seeds and then slice the halves short wise into thin pieces

I also went on a bit of a pie crazy. I thought it was time to use of some of the pumpkin in the freezer (that I grew) so it didn’t languish there until I got the new batch of pumpkins for this year. I also made (since I got some whipped topping for the pumpkin pie) some Easy Lemon Pie.

Mix everything together and place into a graham cracker crust. Chill overnight.

Now the funny thing about this recipe I have (yes, it’s that old) is that I can no longer find 6 ounce cans of lemonade and the evaporated milk is now 12 ounces and the whipped topping is 8 ounces. So the adapted recipe would be:

And then I tend to forget to get a lemon so I skip that and I also skip the food coloring. The thing that can not be skipped is the graham cracker crust. The secret to this pie is that it becomes pie like because the extra juice gets soaked into the crust. I highly recommend it, gentle lemon flavor and tastes like Summertime.

(By the way, you can use this basic recipe and fill in other frozen concentrate juices for variety – lime and orange are good, too.)

My main occupation this May, aside from painting painting painting has been getting in a raised bed garden. I am pretty pleased with the start of things and it is still a work in progress. Some warmer weather veggies are stumbling with the ups and downs in the temperature, but I have high hopes that Summer will indeed come.